Clipping Chicken Wings - it keeps chickens from flying

Clipping chicken wings is the most effective way to keep chickens
from flying over the fence. Part of frugal living can involve raising
your own food. If your food (or egg producing hen) keeps flying over the
fence, it soon becomes food for predators, so keep the flight feathers
on the wings trimmed and you'll have chickens inside the yard where
they'll be safe.

If you're raising chickens in an enclosed area, with a roof or netting overhead, you won't have to trim their wings.

There are two schools of thought when clipping chicken wings: 1) trim only one wing; and, 2) trim both wings.

Trimming
one wing makes the chicken fly off balance and out of control. I
suppose the chicken feels awkward about its flight, and so stops trying
to fly.

Trimming both wings makes more sense to
me. I think it makes flight impossible, and it keeps the chicken
balanced when it tries to fly. I don't know if this makes the chicken
feel any better, but it makes me feel better.

When
trimming wing feathers, it's best to have help. You can do it alone, but
it is much more stressful for you and the chicken. You also risk
cutting yourself as there just isn't an easy way to hold a large
struggling bird, extend its wing, and carefully operate a pair of
scissors.

There isn't much of a science to clipping chicken wings. Extend the wing of the chicken and cut back feathers as much as reasonably possible.
Look at the tips of the flight feathers (trailing edge of the wings)
and you'll see where they meet up with another row of feathers close to
the wing. This is where you want to make your cut.

Only cut the
feathers that are easy to cut with a large pair of scissors. You can cut
them with one deep cut, or in stages, an inch or two at a time.

Some of
the feathers will need about 3 to 4 inches removed if they're long,
while others will only need about 2 inches removed.

There are
roughly 20 feathers on each wing that need to be cut - the entire
trailing edge of the wing. When it gets difficult to cut the feathers,
you've probably cut them plenty short enough.

Don't use
Kindergarten scissors or other kids scissors. Get a pair of large
scissors common for cutting paper. This will do the job very well, and
you'll be able to cut through many feathers with each cut.

Once you have a little experience clipping chicken wings, it won't seem to be such a mystery.

Here are some photos to help you with your task.

Chicken wing before the cut.

Notice
the long flight feathers on the trailing edge of the wing. These need to
be cut back about three inches to near where the second row of feathers
overlaps on the underside of the wing.

Looking at the underside of the wing, you can easily see where the cut
needs to be made - near where the long flight feathers are overlapped by
the other row of shorter feathers.

Cut as deep as reasonably
possible - 3 to 4 inches on the longest feathers. If the feathers are
difficult to cut, you're probably cutting too much off.

The green line shows the location of the wing. The red line suggests where the feathers should be trimmed.

After the cut, the underside of the wing should look like this.

This is the "after" picture of the chicken wing. Compare with the first picture in the series.

Clipping
chicken wings on both sides will keep the birds on the ground because
flight will be impossible. Your birds will become convinced (for a while
anyway) that flight is no longer possible, and they'll stop trying to
fly. You might have to cut their wings again after they grow back, but
you shouldn't have to do this more than twice a year.

For the timid, just remember, you're not actually clipping chicken wings, you're only trimming the flight feathers. Feel for the wing and you'll know where to make the cut. If it gets difficult to trim the feathers, you're probably trying to cut too deep.

If you're not skilled at catching chickens, you might wish to use a landing net during the
day when they're active in the yard. If you
practice clipping chicken wings in the evening or at night, it's easy
just to pick them up off of their roosts.

Photo left clearly shows a straight line cut of the flight feathers that bisects the body of the chicken at a 45 degree angle. Imagine a line from the lower breast to the middle of the tail and the cut should become clear to you.

Photo right shows a different bird with a similar flight feather trim. Here I've drawn a line on the photo to show you the edge of her flight feathers after she finished up with her adventure as a contestant in the annual clipping chicken wings event here at Best of Both Worlds.

If one of
your objectives is to provide meat and eggs for the table,
you'll do better if you practice clipping chicken wings. Otherwise,
your flock might find a way to fly out of the yard and become food for someone
else in the neighborhood.

ASSOCIATES

SITE ADMIN

Don't be scared about trimming the wings of your chickens. I've had people tell me about "show cuts" and other techniques, but who really cares? If you're out to keep your chickens from flying over the fence, you don't need to worry about being pretty, just focus on being effective.

In the event you're looking for more help than I'm offering here, let me point you in the direction of additional resources.